Electron tube mount and method of assembly



Jan. 13, 1953 w. K. BATZLE 2,625,665

ELECTRON TUBE MOUNT AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY Filed March 31, 1950' gap; 1715 1/ a" l4 5 H w Z3 I Z4 19' INVENTOR h mzm 16.341918 Patented Jan. 13,

ELECTRON TUBE MOUNT AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY William K. Batzle, Bloomfield, N. J., assignor to Radio Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware Application March 31, 1950, Serial No. 153,282

12 Claims. 1

My invention relates to electron discharge devices and more particularly to improvements in electrode mount constructions for facilitating assembly thereof and to a method of assembling a mount.

In many types of electron discharge devices the electrode mount assembly includes an insulating spacer plate at one or both ends thereof having apertures through which end portions of the electrodes extend. Various expedients have heretofore been provided for fixing the electrodes in the spacer plates. One expedient involves deforming an end portion of an electrode extending from a face of a plate, such as by bending it against the insulating plate or twisting it out of registry with the apertures in the plate through which it extends. A disadvantage of this practice is that it requires a plurality of separate manual operations for each tube mount with a consequent increase in the labor cost of assembling a mount. A further disadvantage is the danger of cracking or otherwise impairing an insulating spacer plate as a consequence of the force used in bending or twisting the end portion referred to. In an attempt to avoid these disadvantages end portions of electrodes designed for extension through a spacer plate have been provided with embossments extending longitudinally of substantially the entire end portions to increase the friction with which the end portions engage walls of the apertures in the plate. However, this has not been entirely satisfactory due to the absence of a positive stop on the electrodes for preventing release of the end portions thereof from the apertures in the plate as a consequence of vibrations or other conditions encountered in use.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide an electron discharge device having an improved electrode mount construction which facilitates assembly of parts of the mount in locked relationship, resulting in reduced labor costs.

A further object is to provide a mount assembly in which spacer plates and electrodes included therein are so constructed that they automatically snap and lock into assembly in one operation.

Another object of my invention is to provide an electron tube mount wherein an electrode thereof is automatically fixed during assembly to a relatively fragile support without cracking or otherwise damaging the support.

Another object is to provide a mount wherein the electrodes thereof are constructed to facilitate threading into apertures in a spacer plate and at the same time provide positive stop and locking means for preventing movement of the electrodes with respect to the spacer plate.

A further object is to provide stop means on an electrode for facilitating the assembly of the electrode in a mount and fixing said electrode in said mount.

Another object is to assemble and fix an electrode in an electron tube mount in one operation.

A further object is to provide an improved method for assembling an electron tube mount whereby an electrode is snapped into fixed position with respect to a spacer element during the assembly in one operation.

One embodiment of the invention attaining the foregoing objects may be in the form of an electron tube mount having a pair of spaced insulating spacer plates which may be of mica provided with apertures therein, and electrodes, including a sheet metal electrode having ears or extensions extending into and through said apertures. To facilitate assembly of the mount and retention of the ears referred to in the apertures in the plate, each ear is provided with a deformation such as a dimple or other form of embossment intermediate its ends, said dimple having a sloping surface adjacent the upper end of the ear. The apertures in the spacer plates may be in the form of slots having dimensions foreasily receiving the undeformed portions of the ears or extensions and for receiving the deformed ear portions as described below in a snapping action. The sloping surface of the ears referred to serves to separate the longer edges of the slot from each other against the tension of the spacer plate material so that when the deformations in the ears are fully extended through a plate, the longer edges of the slots thereof snap back to engage an undeformed portion of the ear adjacent the electrode. The dimensions of the slots and the deformations referred to may be such as to require an appreciable force in threading the ears with their deformation through the slots. Since at least an equal force would be required to remove a plate from the ears as was used in positioning the plate thereon, a positive locking of the ears in the plate results. To further strengthen the adherence of the ears in the plates, the deformations in the ears may be shaped to require an appreciably greater force to remove the electrodes from the plate than that originally applied in extending the ears through the slots.

According to the invention therefore, an electrode is firmly fixed in spacer plates to provide a mount readily capable of withstanding appreci- 3 able impacts and vibrations without impairing its structure. Furthermore, a plurality of electrodes may be mounted in stable and fixed relation on a spacer plate in a single operation, thus reducing labor costs. The invention therefore simplifies the assembly of an electron tube mount and at the same time provides a more rugged mount.

While the invention is pointed out with particularity in the appended claims, it may best be understood from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation partly insection of an electron tube including a mount incorporating the invention;

Figure 2 is a view along the line 2-2 "of 'Figure 1 and shows one way in which an electrode may be fixed to a spacer plate according to the invention;

Figure "3 is a section along the line 3-3 of Figure'2 and shows the shape of the deformation in an ear of an electrode for fixing the electrode to a spacer plate;

Figure 4 is a side view showing another deformation in the ear of an electrode;

Figure '5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Figure 4 and shows the manner in which the deformation depicted in Figure 4 fixes the ear of an electrode to a spacer plate;

Figure 6 shows a further modification in the structure of the deformation in an electrode ear according to the invention;

Figure 7 is a cross section along the line of Figure 6 and indicates the relation of the deformation to a spaced plate for fixing the ear in the plate; and

Figure 8 is a plan view of a spacer plate that may be 'used in practicing the invention.

Referringnow to the drawing in more detail, there is shown in Figure 1 an electron tube that includes the novel mount of the invention. The tube includes an envelope In having at one end thereof a base ll. Within the envelope in is disposed a mount including spacer plates |2, |3 made of insulating material between which are supported a plurality of electrodes including a sheet metal anode |4, cathode IS, a grid having side rods 6, I"! and another grid having side 0 rods l8, [9. The anode i4 is provided with two upper cars '20, 2| extending through slots '22, 23 in the spacer plate l2 shown in Figure 8. ihe anode is also provided with lower cars 24, 25 extending through slots similar to slots 22, 23, in the lower plate l3.

According to the invention ears 26, 2|, 24, 25 are provided with surface deformations 26, 21, 28, '29, respectively. These surface deformations are disposed intermediate the free ends of the ears and the anode M. The lower edges of the upper deformations 26, '21 are spaced from the upper edge of anode |'4 a distance approximately equal to the thickness of the spacer plate I2 to provide aupositive stop forfixing the anode earsv in thespa-cer'plate and with the spacer plate engaging the 'upper edge of the anode. The lower deformations 28, 29 are similarly disposed on the lower ears 24, 25 of the anode to fix the lower spacer plate 13 against the lower edge of the anode.

It will be noted from Figures 2 and 3 showing the upper portion of the mount, that the deformation 2? in disposed intermediate the sides and ends of the ear 2| and that it constitutes an outward surface extension from one face of the ear. As shown best in Figure 3, the upper portion of the deformation merges gradually with the upper surface portion of ear 2|. This is of advantage when extending the ear 2| with its deformation 21 through a slot 23 in the plate 2. It will be further noted from Figure 8 that the slots 22, 23 in the spacer plate are rectangular and are relatively long in one dimension and narrow in the other. The longer dimension is substantially equal to the width of the cars 20, 2| and the shorter dimension accommodates the thickness of the undeformed portion of the ear. Consequently the upper undeformed portion of the ears '20, 2| are easily threaded into the slots referred to, until one of the walls of the slots engages the upper portion of the deformations 26, 21.

When the cars 20, 2| are threaded into slots 22, 23 to such an extent that the deformations 26, 21 abut against a Wall of the slots, additional force is required to urge theportions of the ears having the deformations, through the apertures in the spacer plate. However, due to the slopping upper portion of the deformations 26, '21 and the disposition of the deformations centrally of the cars 20, 2|, the application of the additional force results in entrance of the deformations into the slots referred to and in a deflection of a portion of the slot walls facing the deformations. This deflection of the walls of the slots builds up a tension therein that is not released until the deformations have completely passed through the slots.

Release of the tension in the walls of the slots 22, 23 on completion of the passage of deformed portions 26, 2! therethrough, accomplishes afixing of the cars 20, 2| in the spacer plate '|"2. This results from the fact that when tension is released in the walls of slots 22, 23 on completion of a forced passage of deformations 2.6, 2'1 therethrough, the deformationsare disposed out of registry with the slots, and the lower portions of the deformations abut against the upper surface of the spacer plate and provide a positive stop for preventing release of the cars by the plate. At the same time and because of the critical spacing between the lower portion of deformations 26, 2.1 and the upper edge of the anode the plate [2 .isifirmly held against said upper edge. The fixed engagement between the anode l4 and the plate |'2 persists in the presence of vibrations or impacts imparted to the mount and results in a rugged mount. It will be appreciated that a force capable of separating the anode from 'the spacer plate .must be at least as great as that used in threading the ears through the slots in the plate. It is very unlikely that even under the. most severe conditions of vibration and impact a force will be produced capable of dislodging the anodefrom the spacer plate referred to when'fixed thereto in the manner described.

In the assembly of amount having-theffeatures of the invention, the mounting of a spacer plate on all of the electrodes of the mount maybe accomplished in one operation. This operation merely involves placing the plate |-2 over the electrodes with theslots 22, 23in the plate in registry with ears 2!), Ziand with the apertures 30, 3|. 32, 33, 34 inthe platein registry with thecathode ISand-the grid side,ro.ds |5, |8, |9,respectively, and exerting adownward force on the plate to force the ears having the deformations 26, 21 through=the.slot s 22, 2 3 inthe-plate. The cathode and grid side rods are simultaneously caused to enter their associated apertures in the spacer plate in response to the force referred to. No subsequent operations are necessary such as are characteristic of the prior art for twisting or bending end portions of the electrodes extending beyond the plate for fixing the electrodes-to the plate. The positioning of the plate in the mount and fixing the same to the electrodes therein are accomplished in one simple operation in accordance with the invention. Some prior practices require each ear or end portion of an electrode to be bent or twisted, involving a plurality of separate steps and requiring appreciable operator time. In dispensing with these steps the invention results in substantial economy in the fabrication of electron tube mounts. According to the invention therefore, both the assembly of an electron tube mount is improved as well as the permanency with which the electrodes are fixed in the mount.

The invention is particularly advantageous in connection with mounting the upper spacer plate 12 and fixing the same to electrodes in a mount. However, the invention is also useful when mounting the lower plate IS in the mount. The procedure in this instance also involves threading the ears 2d, 25 with their deformations 28, 29 which are similar to the deformations 26, 21 in the upper ears, through slots in the lower plate 3 similar to the slots 22, 23 in the upper plate I2.

The application of an appreciable force either to the plate or to the electrode will result in extension of the cars 24-, 25 with their deformations 28, 23 through the slots in the plate l3. The application of the force referred to will first tension a wall of the slots in response to the deformations, which tension will cause the walls to spring back to their original form and in engagement with an undeformed portion of the ears after the ears have been fully extended into the apertures.

The passage of the deformations 25, 27, 28, 29 through the slots provided in plates I2, I3 is accompanied by a snapping action between each deformation and a side wall of each of the slots. This snapping action involves a temporary displacement of the side wall ref rred to by a deformation. This displacement builds up a tension in the wall as described before herein which when released causes the wall to spring back to engage an ear portion adjacent the deformation. The tension referred to is released when an ear is fully extended into a slot in the plates. To prevent excessive tension in the walls of the slots referred to that might rupture adjacent portions of the plate, it is desirable to confine the magnitude of extension of the deformations from the adjacent surface of the ear to a value related within relatively wide limits to the length of the slots in the plates. By providing a relatively long slot in relation to the width of a deformation the strain involved in threading the deformation through the slot is distributed over a relatively large area and minimizes damage to the plate. An advantage of the invention resides in the fact that a relatively slight extension of the deformations from one side of the ears is adequate for good results.

The deformation of the ears 2!), 2| shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 is in the form of a dimple including a portion of a sphere. Both the lower and upper portions of the deformation as shown in Figures 2 and 3 gradually merge with the adjacent surface of the ears.- As indicated before herein, the shape of the upper portion of the deformation facilitates entrance of the deformed portion of the ears into and through the slots 22, 23 in the plate l2. The gradually merging character of the lower portion of the deformations with respect to adjacent ear surface, provides a constant resilient engagement between it and the plate. For example, as shown in Figure 3 the lower portions of the deformations may engage a wall of the slot 23 to provide a constant urging of the plate toward the upper edge of anode l4:

Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7 show a modification in the form of the deformation of the anode ears. In Figures 4 and 5 the deformation 35 is in the form of a triangle with its upper apex portion merging with an adjacent surface of the ear 2! while the base of the triangle is extended outwardly from the ear substantially at right angles thereto. This deformation provides a lower surface parallel to the upper surface of the plate i2 and results in a stronger locking engagement between the ear 2| and the plate. It also facilitates threading the ear 2| through the plate l2.

In Figures 6 and '7 is shown a further modification in the shape of the deformation in the anode ears. In this instance the deformation 36 is rectangular having an upper portion merging with an adjacent surface portion of ear 2|, and a lower portion extending at right angles from the plane of said surface. This results in a lower surface in the deformation that is parallel to the upper surface of plate It? as in Figures 4 and 5. This shape aids threading the ear 2| through the plate i2 and provides a positive locking of the ear to the plate by abutment of the parallel surfaces referred to.

While the invention has been described in relation to a sheet metal electrode having ears extending from the ends thereof for fixing the electrode to spacer plates, it is also capable of advantageous use with other types of electrodes. For example, the end portions of grid side rods is, IT, IS, IS! may be provided with deformations, not shown, in the surface thereof permitting extension of the end portions through apertures in one or more spacer plates by a snapping action and resulting in a fixing of the side rods to the plate or plates against movement in one or both. directions along the side rods.

It will therefore be appreciated that the invention is capable of many modifications without departing from its spirit and it is desired that such modifications be included within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An electron tube mount including an insulating spacer plate having a relatively long slot therein and an electrode having an end portion extending through said slot for fixing said electrode with respect to said plate, said end portion having an embossment in a relatively small transverse'part thereof for engaging a face of said plate remote from said electrode and interme diate the ends of said slot, whereby said electrode is fixed to said plate.

2. An electron tube mount including an insulating spacer plate having a relatively long slot therein and an electrode having an end portion extending through said slot for fixing said electrode with respect to said plate, said end. portion having an embossment in a relatively small trans verse part thereof engaging a face of said plate remote from said electrode and intermediate the ends of said slot, whereby the portion of said plate engaged by said embossment is deflected and subjected to tension when said end portion with said embossment is extended through said sulating spacer plate having a slot extendingtherethrough and a sheet metal electrode having an ear extending from one end thereof, said ear having a raised surface portion on one face thereof disposed intermediate the side edges of said ear and spaced from said electrode, said ear with said raised surface portion thereon being extended into said slot, said spacer plate being disposed between an end portion of said raised surface and said electrode for fixed positioning on said plate.

4. In an electron tube mount the combination of an insulating spacer plate having a rectangular shaped slot of greater length than width and an electrode having an end portion for extension through said slot, said end portion having a centrally disposed embossment thereon adapted to engage only an intermediate portion of the longitudinal wall of said slot, whereby said intermediate portion'of said wall is deflected during passage of said embossment throughsaid slot and serves to engage an edge of said embossment when said end portion is fully extended through said slot for fixing said electrode in said plate.

5. In an electron tube mount, the combination of an insulating spacer plate having an elongated rectangular slot therein and an electrode having an end portion of less thickness than the smaller dimension of said slot, said end portion having an embossment thereon for increasing the effective thickness of a part of said end portion to a value greater than said smaller dimensions, said embossment being disposed at a location on said end portion spaced from opposite side edges thereof and extending longitudinally intermediate the ends of said end portion, whereby said end portion deflects and imparts tension to a wall of said slot on extension of said end portion through said slot, said wall springing back to engage an unembossed part of said end portion when said embossment has completely passed through said slot.

6. In an electron tube mount, the combination of an insulating spacer plate having an elongated slot extending therethrough and an electrode having an end portion for snugly engaging opposite walls of said slot, said end portion having an embossment extending longitudinally intermediate the ends thereof, said embossment having a sloping surface adjacent the free end of said end portion for facilitating threading said end portion with said embossment through said slot, said embossment having another surface adjacent the fixed end of said end portion adapted to engage a face of said plate for fixing said electrode against movement in one direction withrespect to said said plate.

7. In an electron tube mount the combination of a spacer plate having an elongated rectangular slot extending therethrough and a sheet metal electrode having an ear extending from one end thereof for threading through said slot, said ear having an embossment slopingly merging with the surface of said ear adjacent the free end thereof for facilitating threading said ear through said slot, said embossment having a planar sur- 7 face normal to the plane of said ear adjacent the fixed end thereof for abutment against a face of said plate remote from said electrode whereby said ctrodeis fixed to said plate.

8. In an electron tube mount the combination of an insulating spacer plate having an aperture extending therethrough and an electrode having a portion adapted to extend through said aperture, said portion having a deformation therein spaced from said electrode for forced entry of said portion into said aperture, said electrode engaging one face of said plate and said deformation engaging the opposite face thereof for fixing said electrode in said plate.

9. An electron tube mount including a spacer plate having an aperture extending therethrough of predetermined dimensions and an electrode having an end portion including a transverse section adjacent its free end having dimensions slightly smaller than said predetermined dimensions for registry with said aperture and an additional transverse section spaced laterally from the first mentioned transverse section and out of registry with said aperture whereby said end portion is initially freely extendable and thereafter forcefully extendable into said aperture with said additional transverse section engaging a face of said plate remote from said electrode for fixing said electrode in said plate.

10. An electron tube mount including a spacer plate having an aperture, an electrode having shoulders and an end portion, said end portion having an embossment spaced from said shoulder, said embossment extending outwardly from said end portion for forced extension of said end portion through said aperture to dispose said plate between said shoulder and said embossment for fixing said electrode to said plate.

11. An electrode for support on an insulating spacer plate having an elongated slot therein, said electrode having an end portion substantially coextensive with the smaller dimension of said slot, said end portion having a deformation therein intermediate its ends for rendering said intermediate portion wider than said smaller dimension, and stop means at the fixed end of said end portion spaced from said deformation, whereby said end portion is adapted to be extended through said slot in a snapping action for fixing said plate between said stop means and said deformation.

12. Method of fixing an electrode to a flat spacer plate having a plurality of elongated slots extending therethrough, wherein said electrode has spaced fiat tabs extending from one end thereof, said method comprising the steps of first deforming said tabs at portions thereof spaced from said end to form embossments, and then threading said tabs through said slots until one face of said plate abuts against said one end of the electrode and said embossments bear against the other face of said plate for locking said plate between said embossment and said one end of the electrode.

W'ILLIAM K. BATZLE.

REFEREIICE'S CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,164,547 Smith July 4, 1939 2,167,885 Glans Aug. 1, 1939 2,227,093 Laico Dec, 31, 1940 2,278,392 Murphy Mar. 31, 1942 

